Part 21 daily journal workshop. SELF-HARM #arttherapy

Disclaimer:

I am not a doctor and these pages are not a substitute for professional help. If you are triggered negatively by any of the journal work here, seek support.

Self-Harm:

There are so many forms of self-harm. I have seen the whole gamut in my work with at-risk youth. I have seen it in my family. And certainly in myself. There’s a whole spectrum from harm-less to very harm-full.

What does SELF-HARM mean to you personally? Pick one way you feel you self-harm. Physically or emotionally. Maybe just a small one so as to ease into the dialogue.

Draw it out. Express that energy you direct so brutally towards yourself onto paper instead.

Start the dialogue. Release those feelings. “Self-healing from the core.”

Now write a message of love to yourself:

Today’s message from SARK:

My dear friend, Dr. Lissa Rankin of OwningPink.com – a brilliant, creative and succulent Medical Doctor – has found scientific evidence to prove that creative health is every bit as important to your body as good nutrition, daily exercise, and regular check-ups.

It supports what I’ve taught for YEARS – expressing yourSELF creatively isn’t just some fun luxury pastime. It’s vital to living a healthy and joyful life!

Take a minute now to watch her talk at:

Self-healing from the core

Resource:

Self-Mutilation and Art Therapy: Violent Creation by Diana Milia, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2000

Diana Milia examines the effect of art therapy interventions with clients who harm their bodies. She describes art making in terms of symbolic modification of the self-mutilating client’s own body, with the ultimate goal of self-transformation. The creative process itself provides an arena for the discharge and mastery of aggressive impulses, and develops self-control, self-esteem, and symbolic capacities, all of which are crucial in the treatment of self-mutilating behaviors. Demonstrating how these theories can be implemented in practice, Milia then describes examples from her clinical experience, and includes extended case studies. She analyzes art therapy sessions and the process and content of artwork. Her book is practical: it also extends our understanding of the concept of self-mutilation and how best it may be addressed.